hink the new mayor has just arrived, Renzi said. We respect the decision the new government will bring in the next few weeks. We are ready to work with the new mayor, not only for the Oly

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Detroit Tigers will go for the three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins when the teams play at Target Field on Thursday afternoon.Detroit owns a 9-2 record against Minnesota this season and has won three-straight games overall. The Twins, after a solid stretch of play in July and into early August have lost their last six dating back to last Thursday against Kansas City.The Tigers have gotten plenty of offense in the series thus far, scoring eight runs in the opener on Tuesday before posting nine runs in Wednesdays 9-4 victory.All nine runs came with two outs, something that has been a bugaboo of the Twins virtually all season. The 287 runs allowed by Minnesota with two outs are by far the most in baseball, more than 20 ahead of Arizona, which is second.Its kind of painful, said Twins manager Paul Molitor. A lot of opportunities to try and get off the field and it just wasnt happening.The main culprits on Wednesday were Tigers sluggers Miguel Cabrera and Justin Upton. Cabrera finished with four hits, including his team-leading 28th home run, and finished a triple short of the cycle.Upton has been red hot since returning to the lineup, posting his fourth-straight two hit effort. He also homered, marking the third time in four games that he has hit a three-run blast.He lengthens the lineup and hes got power as we saw tonight. He can hit the ball as far as anyone in the lineup, said Tigers manager Brad Ausmus. We just want to keep him rolling.Upton, in his first regular appearances against American League pitching, has found things to be challenging in his first year in Detroit. That hasnt applied to Twins hurlers or at Target Field, where Upton has 11 hits in 21 at-bats in four games at the park.After a recent 1-for-31 stretch at the plate, Ausmus gave Upton a few days on the bench to help clear his head. So far, the results are encouraging.Sometimes thats needed, Upton said. A little break, but Im back at it now. My timing is better. And Im seeing some pitches.Thursdays game will feature a pair of young pitchers, with Detroit sending left-hander Daniel Norris to the bump against Twins righty Jose Berrios.Norris will be making his eighth start in the Majors this season; in none of the previous seven has he allowed more than three runs. Despite that, Norris hasnt lasted more than 5 1/3 innings in any start and hasnt earned a victory since June 29. Thursdays start will mark the second against the Twins in Norris career; he allowed one run on one hit in 3 2/3 innings last season.Berrios, arguably the top player in the Twins farm system, has found the adjustment to the Majors rough during his rookie season. Hes been blasted in each of his last three outings. In four starts since being recalled from Triple-A Rochester earlier this month, opponents are hitting .329 off Berrios who has a 1-2 record and a 8.47 ERA.The right-hander will be looking to bounce back from his shortest outing of the season so far against Detroit on May 16, when he allowed seven runs on three hits and four walks in just two-thirds of an inning at Comerica Park.Wholesale Authentic NBA Jerseys . "Jeff is a hard worker who was an important special-teams contributor for us last season," said Stamps GM John Hufnagel. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . -- Jakob Silfverberg is making himself right at home with the Anaheim Ducks, scoring four goals in his first four games. http://www.wholesalechinajerseysforcheap.com/ . -- Jimmy Walkers first PGA Tour trophy came with a special gift tucked inside. NFL Jerseys For Sale .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. NFL Stitched Jerseys .com) - The Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks both take aim at their first wins of the season on Saturday, as the Canucks open their home slate at Rogers Arena.RIO DE JANEIRO -- Holding the Olympics in Rome in 2024 would send a message of defiance to terrorists trying to cower people into a life of fear and rob them of their sporting and cultural identity, Italian Premier Matteo Renzi said Friday.Renzi came to Brazil to attend the opening of the Rio de Janeiro Games and promote Romes bid for the 2024 Olympics.Citing the recent deadly attacks by extremists in European cities, Renzi said the Olympics in Rome would answer those using violence to achieve their political aims.This is a crucial moment, Renzi said in an interview with two international news agencies, including The Associated Press. Terrorist attacks on the world, particularly in Europe, are focused to destroy the life of the people. If they dont achieve the result of killing the people, the second best goal for these crazy men, women, terrorists (is to) give us a life of fear, force us into the homes without possibility to live.Renzi said the Olympics would reject the fundamentalists (who) forbid soccer, music, sport.`If they hate music, we will invest more money in music, he said. If they hate soccer or other sports, we believe this is our identity. This is the problem of Europe today, searching for a new identity. This is the time sport could be the answer.Rome is competing against Paris, Los Angeles and Budapest, Hungary. All four cities have leaders in Rio to observe the games and pitch their bid to Olympic officials. The International Olympic Committee will select the host city in September 2017.I think our dossier is the best, Renzi said. It is better than our friends of Paris and other cities. I dont know if its correct to say that, but its my view.Renzi has thrown his full support behind the bid, only a few years after Rome was forced to drop its candidacy for the 2020 Olympics when the government of Mario Monti refused to provide financial backing for the games during the economic downturn.The 41-year-old Renzi, a former mayor of Florence who became premier in 2014, said the economy has improved and nearly 600,000 jobs have been created under his administration.The situation is better than four years ago, but I think the decision oof Mario Monti four years ago was a mistake, he said.dddddddddddd. One year ago nobody thought Rome could be in the best position for a candidature. One year ago, 12 months ago, nobody in Italy believed it possible to create a very good dossier. Now the feeling in Italy about the Olympic Games is totally different.The latest bid, however, faces opposition from Romes new mayor, Virginia Raggi. The capitals first female mayor has repeatedly said the city has bigger social and economic priorities to deal with at the moment. Without the citys support, its difficult to see the bid going the distance. Its uncertain whether Raggi will push for a referendum.I think the new mayor has just arrived, Renzi said. We respect the decision the new government will bring in the next few weeks. We are ready to work with the new mayor, not only for the Olympic Games. We are not worried.Renzi said Italy enjoys more cross-party cooperation than during the days of political infighting under former Premier Silvio Berlusconi.If you think back four years ago, nobody could imagine an under-40 becoming prime minister of Italy or a woman under 40 becoming mayor of Rome, he said. This is a new page in the political history of Italy.Italian Olympic Committee president Giovanni Malago said he spoke with the Raggis office before coming to Rio and both sides agreed to meet again after the games to discuss the bid.The bid race comes during a turbulent political period, with the U.S. presidential election in November and French elections next year.Asked whether a victory for Donald Trump would hurt Los Angeles bid chances with IOC members from the rest of the world, Renzi didnt hide his own political preference for Hillary Clinton.I respect every vote of our American friends, he said. I will host the G7 in Taormina, Sicily, in May 2017. Obviously as a democrat I hope I can host the new president -- whoever shell be.---Follow Stephen Wilson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/stevewilsonap. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/stephen-wilson ' ' '